Y-STR DNA to be Included in Boston Dorm Rape Trial

Hana Eddib 1/1/18

Forensics current event 12

Augenstein, Seth. “Y-STR DNA to Be Included in Boston Dorm Rape Trial.” Forensic Magazine, 29 Dec. 2017, www.forensicmag.com/news/2017/12/y-str-dna-be-included-boston-dorm-rape-trial.

In Seth Augenstein article discussing the Boston Dorm Rape trial, Augenstein discussed the recent approval of a Y-strand DNA to be included in the trial. 21 year old former MIT basketball player Samson Donick has been charged with rape. The trial is set to take place next month. Donick and his team had motioned to exclude the DNA evidence that came from a supposed victim. Defense attorneys argued the crime occurred in an area of Boston and with a school that has a large Jewish population, according to court records. Greg Hampikian, a Boise State University scientist who has worked extensively with the Innocence Project argued on behalf of the defense claiming, “ Risk of unfair prejudice looms large over this case, because as the average juror well knows, DNA is often described as a genetic blueprint of an individual’s physical characteristics...f the jury were to mistake the limited Y-STR DNA evidence concerning Donick for more definitive autosomal DNA evidence, it would likely wrongfully convict Donick.” However, the judge moved to have the DNA evidence included as he stated, “While there is undoubtedly a greater percentage of Ashkenazi Jews in the vicinity of the Dorm than there is in the United States generally, there is no evidence regarding the percentage of Ashkenazi Jews who had access to (the victim’s) bedroom on the night in question.” The defense is allowed to discuss the Jewish population’s effect on the evidence at the trial but the court believed it would not be enough to convict Donick. The analysis of the genital swab and Donick’s buccal swab was performed by the Serological Research Institute in Richmond, California. It focused on Y-STR, paternally-linked genetic markers. The scientists at the lab concluded “approximately one in 8,631 males in the general population could be included as the contributor” of the DNA – and one 2,488 Caucasian males. As Donick is an Ashkenazi Jew, The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office claimed it was inculpatory evidence.

This article is very relevant to our society. Sexual assault cases are becoming more and more prominent in courtrooms, and this new evidence could be helpful to others who find their defendant to be an Ashkenazi Jew. Regardless of if the defendant is or isn’t, this evidence could open up forensic evidence based on race, or ethnicity as certain races and ethnicities have similar features and therefore similar DNA strands.

This article was very informative and I thought it was very well-written. The author did a good job of explaining both sides of the argument and the impact the new evidence could have on the case.  The only problem with the article that I found was that the author failed to include a description on the Y chromosome and the effect it has on a DNA strand. It would’ve been helpful in understanding its significance if the author had provided an example on how the Y versus the X chromosome would affect a DNA strand.